Hello everybody!
Been a while since I’ve posted something here on my blog, eh? I’ve been pretty busy this past month, trying to get ready for graduation and spending some time with my friends for the last time before I leave RIT at the end of February.
Anyway, I had the opportunity to attend the Minnesota Twins Fest for the second straight year with the Rochester Red Wings in Minneapolis. When I arrived there, Nick Sciarratta and Rob Dermody were already there, getting the Red Wings’ booth all set up.
I had the same mission as last year: mingle my way around the floor of the Metrodome, capturing the moments of the Fest featuring current, past and future Red Wings. One of the first players that I caught up with was Ben Revere, the Wings’ speedy centerfielder and the 2012 Twins’ projected leftfielder. Next up was one of my most favorite Wings, pitcher Kyle Waldrop. He has been the anchor of the Red Wings for the past two summers and he finally got a call-up to Minnesota toward the end of last summer. Hopefully he’ll make the bigs again this season.
A little later on, I went up to the concourse in an attempt to catch a glimpse of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, the faces of the Twins. The lines were so long and they were signing in some small room, so I couldn’t see anything. Hopefully I’ll see them tomorrow in some other places, such as at the radio show.
I took an hour break from the Fest and headed across the street to a restaurant/bar with my parents called Hubert. The place was pretty cool. Full of sporting goods for Minnesota sports. When my parents and I returned, the first thing that we noticed was a fog inside the dome. The fog came from the grill. I think the cook burnt a few too many burgers. Oops.
After that, I saw a former Twin/Cub/Red Wing, Jacque Jones, who made an appearance for the first time since he retired from baseball. I asked him what he has been up to. “Playing golf,” he says. “What’s your handicap?” “Eight.” “I don’t know what that is, just making conversation. I only know mini-golf,” I replied. We shared a laugh after that, and then he went back to signing autographs. He’s a great guy. He really is.
On the other side of the signing booth, I saw a trio of former Wings pitchers in Glen Perkins, Anthony Swarzak and Jeff Manship. Perkins is looking really good. He’ll be the workhorse of the Twins’ bullpen this upcoming season. Swarzak is growing his hair pretty long. Trying to be a hippie or something. Caught up with Manship for a bit. He’s an awesome guy. He was the starter of that no-hitter quartet when the Red Wings threw one last summer.
Toward the end of the night, I headed up to the pressbox to steal their wi-fi so I could upload the photos of the night to the Red Wings’ facebook page, the same photos that you will see in this blog post.
Overall, it was a great night. Can’t wait for tomorrow!
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| Nick Sicarratta and Rob Dermody getting all set up for the TwinsFest |
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| The location of Kirby Pucket's home run ball in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. |
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| The Wings' home black jerseys. Good looking guy in the reflection, eh? |
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| Ben Revere |
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| Kyle Waldrop's autograph |
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| The MetroDome! |
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| Twins Prospect Alex Wimmers with a young fan |
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| Chris Parmelee on the radio talk show |
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| Ben Revere doesn't like the headset... :-( |
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| Oop...never mind |
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| Trevor Plouffe |
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| Jeff Manship....signing a really big ball.... |
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| Rob Dermody taking charge of the Red Wings' booth. Attaboy Rob. |
